Good crops for chickens?

[nuschler22]

Is there a particular crop that's best?  Possibly hay?

If I have a chicken pen and grow a crop inside it, will they eat it as it grows? 

[Negocromn]

make then pen/silo right beside your hay field

[Astasia]

If you are in a green biome you can just let them eat wild grass. They don't eat much and you can get a surprisingly large population of chickens in a small area with no effort needed on your part.

[nuschler22]

I am in a green biome, but they went through the grass pretty quickly.  I have them in about 300 squares total.

Will they eat the hay as it grows, or does it have to be harvested?  I have the hay growing in the pasture, but I'm still getting the malnutrition alert.  I have had to put a two square stock pile with vegetables.

[Negocromn]

I am in a green biome, but they went through the grass pretty quickly.  I have them in about 300 squares total.

Will they eat the hay as it grows, or does it have to be harvested?  I have the hay growing in the pasture, but I'm still getting the malnutrition alert.  I have had to put a two square stock pile with vegetables.

They eat the hay plant yes, but it will be worth much much less nutrition than what you would harvest, so you have to not allow them on plantation areas. If you're planning on raising lots of animals, make big hay pastures and then silos right next to them, make it an animal zone and put your animals there when needed.

I have about 150 turtles atm and I always keep the babies inside the silo, as it is really cost effective, I think they will eat as much pasture as an adult turtle but about 10 times less food, so this way my pastures last longer and are able to support all the juvenile and adult turtles, and when it gets cold everyone goes inside and I light campfires.

[nuschler22]

Seems like hay takes a long time to grow.

I will separate them and give that a try.